I love every dog, and I can't stop thinking about the ones found suffering on a rural property on County Road 24 in Cherokee County, Alabama, last month.
Cherokee County Sheriff's deputies responded to the property in early July 2026 and found several dogs described as malnourished, along with one dog suffering a severe injury serious enough that Cherokee County Animal Control had to transport the animal for emergency veterinary care. David Canipe, 64, and Dimples Canipe, 57, both of Piedmont, Alabama, were arrested and each now faces a charge of animal cruelty.
Here's the problem: as of this writing, that charge is a misdemeanor. For dogs found malnourished enough to need emergency intervention, with at least one suffering a severe injury, a misdemeanor charge does not match the harm that was done. No court date has yet been set, and no elevated charges have been announced.
I'm asking Ninth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Summer Summerford to review this case for the possibility of enhanced charges given the severity and apparent duration of the neglect, to pursue the maximum penalty available under whatever charge is ultimately filed, and to seek a court order permanently barring David Canipe and Dimples Canipe from owning animals again. Alabama's dogs deserve a district attorney's office that treats malnourishment and severe injury as the serious offenses they are, not as routine citations.
Please sign to ask District Attorney Summerford's office to take this case as seriously as the dogs' injuries demand.
